Near surface sea temperature in coastal waters of the North Sea, English Channel and Irish Sea (1877-)

Coastal sites around England and Wales (North Sea, English Channel and Irish Sea

Observations

Parameters

Temperature of the water column

Instruments

Thermistor chains; water body temperature sensor

Description

Summary

In the early 1960s, it was apparent to fisheries oceanographers at Lowestoft that very little information was available on a synoptic basis concerning sea temperatures in inshore waters around England and Wales. Accordingly, in the mid-1960s a network of observers at a number of coastal locations was set up. The present network includes 18 stations operated by CEFAS and a further 17 stations operated by various authorities outside CEFAS. The frequency of the observations varies considerably and may not be recorded for much of the early data. At present, for the stations operated by CEFAS, observations are taken between 8 and 12 times per month, usually close to the time of high water. For some of the non-CEFAS stations, the frequency is even better; in some cases as often as one reading per day. Initially CEFAS observers used Negretti and Zambra reversing thermometers in a metal frame on a hand-held line, which were later replaced by a thermistor thermometer designed and built in-house. Currently, CEFAS observers are gradually being equipped with a commercially available portable thermistor. The database held at CEFAS, Lowestoft, has expanded in recent years, to include data from a large number of non-CEFAS sources. In particular, data from Meteorological Office for a number of lighthouses and offshore lightvesse have been included, because they are often of long duration and therefore provide very useful time series. Data sets, varying widely in completeness, are now held for 99 locations and total over 3100 years of data.